


I Wanna Dance With Somebody

by kqmarches



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: 5am, ASL, Abel Township, American Sign Language, Dance parties, F/M, Fluff, Mute Runner Five, No Spoilers, Sign Language, at least I don't THINK there are any spoilers, check me before I wreck me on that one, runners getting a break for once, sam being the cutest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 13:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19210090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kqmarches/pseuds/kqmarches
Summary: It's rare that the good folks at Abel Township get to take a break, let their hair down, and dance the night away. Seems like the perfect time to admit to certain things, right?





	I Wanna Dance With Somebody

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kenwaylights](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenwaylights/gifts).



> Quick notes:  
> -My Five is American and mostly uses ASL to communicate.  
> -I am letting this fic sit separately from the ZR canon for the most part, so no spoilers - I don't THINK, please let me know if I'm wrong on that one - and this can just fit into wherever you feel it fits best. Likely it's a season one dealio, but again, it's all up to you.  
> -I didn't edit this at all so uh. If there are glaring errors just know I will find them two months from now when I drink too much wine and reread my own work. I'll fix them then.

Five has always loved parties like this. School dances, house parties, nightclubs, big cities after sundown...anywhere with loud music and people dancing and singing with reckless abandon appealed to both her extroversion and love of people-watching. She has never been to a party quite so cathartic as this one, though. Jack and Eugene are playing hosts, alternating banter with the biggest hits from the 1980s. The energy in the crowd is utterly electric and contagious, as though the world had not changed at all beyond those walls. It was clear how badly they had all needed a break like this, and the organizers spared no detail. A band of teenagers had worked tirelessly the whole day to decorate with whatever they could, and the entire kitchen staff prepped snacks and drinks to keep the whole township happy. 

After several dances, sweaty hugs, and a quick chat with Jody, Five finds that the place is just a little too hot, so she sneaks out to grab a gulp of fresh air. It’s a gorgeous night, cool and breezy and full of stars. It reminds her of when she was a little girl, spending the night at her grandmother’s house out in the country, falling asleep on a deck chair under the stars and waking up at sunrise to the smell of pancakes. Usually those memories would make her heart ache with nostalgia. Tonight they just make her heart swell, make her think how lucky she is to still be alive to think of such things. To hope the kids here at Abel get to experience such moments in their lives.

She’s lost in a memory of wandering her grandmother’s garden, eating sun-warm cherry tomatoes and raw peas right off the vine, when she spies Sam walking inside. She catches his eye and waves to him, gesturing for him to join her. He grins and starts making his way through the crowd. She notices his usual uniform of threadbare jeans and a hoodie have been traded for slightly less threadbare jeans and a sweater she hasn’t seen before. Sam finally makes his way outside to where Five stands and gives her a hug.

“What’re you doing out here?” 

“Too hot,” Five signs.

“Ah. Well, you’re not wrong,” Sam laughs. “I was going to grab a drink before I saw you. Do you want something?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Coming right up. Don’t go anywhere.”

“I’ll be here.”

Five is amused at the sight of Sam trying to make his way through the crowd to the makeshift bar, getting stopped left and right by people thrilled to see him. It makes her happy, seeing Sam appreciated by everyone like this. He deserves it.

Sam returns a few minutes later carrying a glass and a mug - matching sets are a luxury long since forgotten - and passes the mug to her. Five peers into it to see a vividly purple-looking liquid inside. Sam holds his own up to the light and inspects it.

“This is a Sneaky Five, apparently. I dunno, it’s something they came up with on the fly when I said I was getting it for you. It’s gin, something clear and sparkly that may be Sprite, not sure, and something blue that I suspect might be...Kool-Aid? American and all that. So, might be nice, might be horrible, not likely to fall in the middle. Feeling brave?”

Five nods, tapping her mug against Sam’s glass and winking before taking a sip. It actually tastes...pretty damn good, and her look of joy reflects it. 

“That’s not bad, is it?” Sam laughs. “Bit of a kick, though, careful there.”

“I’m not the lightweight here,” Five signs as best as she can with one hand. 

“I resent that.”

“Your resentment is noted and ignored.”

Sam bumps her shoulder with his own and laughs. They fall into a comfortable silence for a moment, watching the party reach a frenzy when Jack puts on “We Built This City”. It’s nice, observing from outside as everyone lets loose, laughing and cheering and singing along like they don’t have a care in the world. Five is so lost in enjoying the sight that she doesn’t realize Sam is staring at her for a moment, and it makes him jump when she catches him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Sorry - sorry, I just...I was just thinking that you look nice tonight. Not that you don’t always look - I only meant...I’m just used to seeing you in your running kit, so, you know, sort of generally sweaty and muddy and...I mean not that you don’t also look nice then, but...please rescue me,” Sam stammers, blushing and laughing. 

Five takes mercy on him. “You look nice too.” 

“Oh. Well. Thank you,” says Sam, looking pleased. He takes a big gulp of his drink and seems to be steeling himself for something. “Do you, uh...do you want to dance? With me, I mean?” 

“I can’t dance, you know that.”

“I do know that, which is why I am offering to make a fool of myself right alongside you. I’m taller, so no one will notice you flailing around if I’m doing the same six inches higher up.”

Five grins and knocks back the last of her drink, then grabs Sam’s hand before she can change her mind, tugging him back inside. They find a spot to dance where they aren’t likely to cause injury to anyone, and in seconds they’re as free and silly as everyone else. Sam is as good as his word, dancing just as poorly as promised. Five can’t wipe the grin off her face, especially when “Africa” comes on and Sam sings every bit of it, slightly off-key and louder than Five has ever heard him. They’re out of breath after “Take On Me” and Five begs off the next song, wanting to get some water. Sam tags along, a hand on Five’s shoulder to keep from getting separated in the crowd. 

“Five, can I, uh...can we talk for a minute?” Sam asks once they’ve both caught their breath. 

Five nods, and Sam leads her just a bit further out from the crowd. No one is paying them any mind as it is, but Sam seems set on privacy for whatever it is he has to say. He looks awfully nervous all of a sudden, which worries Five. When he takes a slow, deep breath, she places a hand on his forearm to reassure him. This seems to have the opposite of the intended effect, so she withdraws it. 

“Sorry, I’m not...okay, so here’s the thing. The thing is, I’ve been trying to figure out if I should - if you’d - or, well, maybe not if I  _ should _ , because these days it’s like, of course I  _ should,  _ because better that than live with regrets, right? Things being fleeting and unsure and all that. Zombies and such. Apocalypse. End of the world. You know, I never have liked that phrase too much. ‘End of the world’. It’s not really the end if things are still going, is it? I mean, we’re all still here. You’re here. I’m here. We’re having a party, for God’s sake, we’re dancing to the best of the 80’s and drinking gin and Kool-Aid like nothing in the world is wrong. So the world didn’t  _ end _ , it just...changed, right?”

“Sam.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

Sam puffs out his cheeks in frustration with himself and rubs his neck awkwardly. “Yeah, sorry, I’m...not sure how to do this.”

“Just talk to me.”

Five gives him a patient smile, and Sam takes another breath. “Maybe talking’s the problem,” he mutters. “Maybe I should just…”

He looks down at his right hand, then lifts it, forming one simple sign. It takes Five a moment to comprehend it - it’s the ASL sign for “I love you”. Sam’s hand is steady, but the look in his eyes is utterly petrified. Five feels warmth growing in her cheeks as she looks from Sam’s face to his hand and back, then she slowly lifts her own hand and returns the sign. Sam’s eyes go wide. 

“You…” he starts, then trails off as his face splits into a huge smile. “Tonight is going  _ very  _ well, then.”

Five laughs noiselessly and reaches out to hold Sam’s hand. They stand like that for a moment, giddy as schoolkids, both pink in the face. Just as Sam opens his mouth to say something, the music changes to “Whip It”, and he groans. Five tilts her head by way of asking what’s wrong. 

“I just...I was going to ask if I could, um...kiss you,” says Sam, not quite meeting her eyes. “But this is not exactly a first kiss kind of song.”

Five’s shoulders shake with silent giggles and Sam puts on a look of fake indignation. 

“Look, I’ve been working up the nerve to do all this for ages now. Pardon me for wanting it all to be just so,” he says, barely able to keep up the pretend outrage for a second. 

Five lets go of his hand so she can talk. “When you hear the right song, then you can kiss me. Deal?”

“Yeah?”

Five nods. Sam grins.

“You’re on, Five.”

They get back on the dance floor, both of them seeming to move with the lightness of foot that can only come from pure happiness. With each passing song, they find reasons to shoot it down as a first kiss option. 

“I kissed a girl to this once before and it did not go well.”

“I am  _ not  _ kissing you to an Eddie Money song.”

“Doesn’t it seem weird to play a song by a band called the Fine Young Cannibals during a zombie plague?”

It seems like they may never come across the right song. “99 Luftballons”, “Hungry Like the Wolf”, and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” are all fine choices for a dance, but none have quite what either of them are looking for when it comes to the soundtrack for a kiss. Five is about three seconds from deciding to give up on being so picky when “Heaven is a Place on Earth” begins, much to the delight of the whole party. It seems like everyone is singing along and cheering, the joy of the song infectious. Both Five and Sam stop dancing and look at each other. 

“This is a pretty good one,” he says. 

“It is,” Five agrees. “Is it the right one?”

Sam listens for another moment, then nods. They look at each other and both step in at the same time. When they kiss, it’s a slow, inevitable, sweet thing that’s full of an innocence that Five had thought she had long since left behind. Sam’s hands cradle her face as he kisses her again, tender as can be, but then they jerk apart and both burst into laughter when they hear several of the other runners whooping and whistling, having noticed what was happening. Sam plays at pretending to hide from the crowd behind Five, who twists away and tugs at him.

“About damn time !” Simon shouts. “Kiss her again, you idiot!” 

Five shocks Sam by grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him in for a kiss that sends the rowdy runners into another round of cheering. He looks dazed and wide-eyed when they pull apart, and without looking away from him, Five accepts a stinging high five from Sara.

“You’re gonna be the death of me,” Sam says, his voice cracking ever so slightly. 

Five arches a brow. “Just you wait.”

**Author's Note:**

> A quick note about my choice of "Heaven is a Place on Earth".
> 
> I know it has basically been claimed by the LGBTQ community as The Most Sapphic Song after that spectacular Black Mirror Episode "San Junipero" - by the way, if you haven't seen that yet, DO SO IMMEDIATELY. I am in no way trying to "straighten" the song out by applying it to Five and Sam here. 
> 
> My Five is a cis woman, yes, but she's bisexual, as am I. I chose that song as a 5am song because of these lyrics: 
> 
> "When I feel alone, I reach for you  
> And you bring me home  
> When I'm lost at sea I hear your voice  
> And it carries me"
> 
> If that ain't the most "A Voice in the Dark" thing I ever heard...


End file.
